The Old Spaghetti Factory is now located at 1250 Pacific Ave.
Review and photos by Ted Broussard
Everything Old is New Again
With 100 more seats than their former location on Jefferson Street, Old Spaghetti Factory opened on January 22 in the newly redesigned space previously occupied by City Grocer. The good thing about OSF and places like it is that you know what to expect. They have a brand, they have a niche market and they are consistent. The big question for me was how were they going to translate that brand and all the antique trappings that go with it into a brand new modern space. I’m happy to report that I think they did it well. The food was just as good as ever and the space works in terms of efficiency and aesthetics.
To be clear, one doesn’t go to OSF looking for Italian food on par with Marzano’s or even Café Vincero. But one does go there looking for relatively inexpensive pasta dishes from the classics like Spaghetti and Meatballs, Lasagna, and Fettuccine Alfredo, to their own signature dishes like Spaghetti Vesuvius, Garlic Shrimp Capellini and Gourmet Sausage Ravioli - with prices ranging from $10 - $16. All are well prepared, fresh and tasty. Salads are fresh from a bag but redeemed by good tasting blue cheese dressing and house made croutons. On our opening night visit, our party of three had Spaghetti and Meatballs, Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter, and two of the side dishes combined, to make a dinner of Chicken Parmesan and Fresh Broccoli. We were three happy diners at the end of our meal. All of the food was very good. I was especially impressed with the taste of the meatballs (could have been just a bit warmer in the middle) but very good flavor. We loved the Mizithra dish and I was very taken with my steamed broccoli cooked to tender (not to be confused with crisp tender) but clearly not over cooked, with the same delicious Mizithra/browned butter magic. The chicken parmesan as a side dish was a very generous portion, cooked just like the old days before people worried about eating healthy, but perfectly seasoned with big flavor. We enjoyed a glass of Pinot for the bargain price of $6.25 a glass. Try finding that at a decent restaurant these days.
Service was excellent, even on opening night. The manager mentioned that they intentionally overstaffed for this first night and each of the servers we interacted with was friendly, efficient and clearly well trained. In fact, I didn’t find many missteps at all for a major transition like this.
The space designers did a great job of bringing some of the old tables and furnishings and seamlessly mixing them with the new. I liked the way they kept the partial glass wall from the bar of the old restaurant to create a separation between dining and the very spacious lounge. There are three banquet rooms and total seating for 400 people at any given time. The original Tacoma Power & Co. trolley car has found its new home and fits well in the new space. What I think they did best was create intimate spaces in the front dining area while maintaining an airy spacious feel. They kept the best of the “old timey” feel of pressed tin ceilings, tiffany lamps and antique tables but updated the booths with tasteful attractive upholstery and warmed up the place with a mix of painted and brick walls, stained glass windows and vintage photos of old Tacoma.
While the “old” Old Spaghetti Factory looked like the factory had been there for a few hundred years, the “new” Old Spaghetti Factory keeps the charm and the reliably good food and loses the dusty/musty look. It’s worth a try if you’re looking for the family birthday celebration where kids are more than welcome or if you want a comfort food fix at the convenient take out order desk right up front. It’s nice to see things can change without changing too much. Old Spaghetti Factory is old, it’s new and it’s good.
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